Away goal key for Andre

Andre Villas-Boas believes scoring an away goal could be the key to tonight’s Europa League Round of 32, second leg against Lyon.

Samuel Umtiti hit the strike of a lifetime in the first leg at the Lane to register Lyon’s away goal as Gareth Bale’s free-kick double handed us a narrow 2-1 lead to take to the Stade de Gerland.

Andre said ‘ideally, we want to cancel out their away goal’ and will take heart from the fact we’ve scored in 17 of 19 away matches so far this season.

But he also knows we’ve a tough task ahead.

“We’ve been very good away from home and to try and transfer that into this stadium is a big challenge because of Lyon’s European experience,” said Andre.

“If that happens, it will put us in a good position. It could be an exciting game because it will be open and Lyon will have a go at us, different to what they did in the first leg. It’s a different challenge and one we have to respect in a difficult stadium. Hopefully we’ll show our qualities.”

Andre is also aware that Lyon’s fans will drive them forward.

“The stadium will take their team forward by nature, the emotion they will put into the match might force the team to feel more confident to attack us more,” he explained.

“I think it will be an open game due to those circumstances. We have to be strong defensively but also look to our attack, which has been magnificent this season.”